Racing LeMans' Patrick Dempsey Needs Racing to Enjoy Grey's Anatomy

Thursday

Jul 25, 2013 at 5:17 PM

With Grey's Anatomy hitting its tenth season, it should come as no surprise that Patrick Dempsey may be getting restless. But the actor got a breath of fresh air last year after entering LeMans, France's 24-hour sports car race.Dempsey, who ...

TV Guide

With Grey's Anatomy hitting its tenth season, it should come as no surprise that Patrick Dempsey may be getting restless. But the actor got a breath of fresh air last year after entering LeMans, France's 24-hour sports car race.

Dempsey, who previously competed in the 2009 LeMans, returned in 2013 in hopes of making a dent in the endurance race. Velocity's Racing LeMans will document his journey getting to and through the race, in which he ended up finishing 29th overall. In a clip shown at the Television Critics Association's fall TV preview panel on Thursday, Dempsey seemed to show contempt for the sometimes sedentary nature of acting, while lauding his time as a racer.

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"These interviews took place over a year, so my moods changed dramatically in the course of 12 months and my feelings changed depending on where we were during the run of the show," Dempsey said. "It's a different type of passion. I'm an actor, so that's my profession, that's my job, it's a trade and a different kind of feeling. Racing is a constant discovery. When you're in a long show, there's less discovery." Dempsey went on to wax poetic on the ups and downs of racing, which constantly keeps him on his toes. "It keeps me alive and then I can go back to work and enjoy it."

But Dempsey is still grateful to Grey's Anatomy for allowing him to get on the track, noting that they've been "amazingly supportive." "I'm not necessarily bored with the show," he said. "I'm very grateful to have a show that's been on the air for 10 years. You find ways to turn yourself on with the material that you're given. For me now, it's much more discovering in the moment. There's not a lot of homework that goes into it. I'm grateful that I have a gig, but it's not the same as being a racer."